Taking a brother to court
1When one of you has a grievance against another, how dare he take it to court before the unrighteous instead of before the saints? 2Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you unfit to try the smallest cases? 3Do you not know that we will judge angels — how much more the affairs of this life? 4So when you have such cases to settle, do you appoint as judges the very people the church counts for nothing? 5I say this to shame you. Can it be that there is not one wise person among you able to decide between one brother and another? 6Instead, brother goes to court against brother, and before unbelievers at that. 7The very fact that you have lawsuits against one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather accept the wrong? Why not rather let yourselves be cheated? 8Instead you do the wrong and the cheating, and to your own brothers. 9Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who submit to other men nor men who bed them, 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor the abusive nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And some of you were such people. But you were washed clean, you were made holy, you were set right, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
The body is for the Lord
12“Everything is permitted me” — but not everything does good. “Everything is permitted me” — but I will not let anything take power over me. 13“Food for the belly and the belly for food,” and God will do away with them both. But the body is not for immorality; it is for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14And God raised the Lord and will raise us too, by his power. 15Do you not know that your bodies are limbs of the Christ? Shall I then take the limbs of the Christ and make them the limbs of a prostitute? Never! 16Or do you not know that whoever joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it says, “The two will become one flesh.” 17But whoever joins himself to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18Run from immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but whoever is sexually immoral sins against his own body. 19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. So glorify God in your body.
